The Way of the Saints (Nilsen Prize for a First Novel Winner)

In 1980s New York, Esther tries to live with her mother’s growing instability and strangeness. In the same city a decade before, Isabel desperately tries to carry a child to term, despite a curse laid on her. And, in Puerto Rico in the 1930s, Paula is forced into a choice that will affect both these other women, her descendants.

A tightly woven, deeply plotted generational saga, The Way of the Saints breathes and pulses with both history and superstition. From a revolution I was never taught about in school to a religious practice turned almost cultlike by desperation, at every page I felt as though I was peeking through shadows into the depths of what it can mean to be a woman. Maybe this is why I felt so drawn to the book: even though every fear is specific to every life, there comes a time when every woman feels fear specifically because society has kept her powerless.

But I digress. The Way of the Saints is beautifully written and a gripping tale, one which fully deserved the Nilsen Prize. I hope to see more from Elizabeth Engelman in the future.